A SKETCH OF THE LIFE AND CHARACTER OF (Concluded from page 814.) LADY MAXWELL's person was a little taller than the ordinary size, slender, regular in its form, just in its proportions, and remarkably straight; her complexion inclining a little more to dark than light. Her features quite feminine, yet bold, every line full of meaning, and strongly marked with intelligence. Her eye was quick and penetrating, yet full of sweetness. And when she was bordering on her seventieth year, time had neither impaired her sight, nor drawn furrows on her countenance; while she sat and walked as erect, and moved with as much ease and grace as when in her twentieth year. The amiable part of her manner was scarcely perceived by strangers at first sight, in consequence of a superlative dignity in her mien, which appears to have been so natural, that on very few occasions she could forget it; and this was thought by those who knew her the least, but ill to comport with that high degree of piety to which she laid claim. Acquaintance, however, broke this charm, ventured within the imagined magic circle, and experience corrected the errors of misconception. Her dress, which was as much dictated by conscience as formed on taste, was very plain, being without ornament, or any thing which could only serve for shew; yet it was a plainness of her own, equally removed from the formal costume of the Quaker, and the frippery of fashion, escaping at the same time the unconscientious expensiveness of both. Much has been said and written on the subject of dress in reference to religious persons, yet the evil continues with undiminished vigour. Nor is the evil confined to those, who, if we may use a certain phrascology, are VOL. XXXIX. DECEMBER, 1816. conformed to the WORLD; for there are many who, while they contend for a particular cut, or shape, and reject with indignation certain appendages of dress as sinful ornaments, yet in the richness and expensiveness of their own articles of dress, added to a perpetual and unnecessary change of apparel, shew that an enlightened conscience has little to do in regulating their conduct in this matter. For while the funds of various noble institutions, which have for their objects the improvement of the temporal, moral, and spiritual condition of a disordered world, are suffered to languish for want of supplies, the most extravagant sums are annually lavished on that which an inspired aposile calls a "vile body;" and perhaps much of this unnecessary expense is on a "neat, and elegantly plain dress;" but from which it is very evident, that there is as great a rage for change in attire, and for personal adorning in these plain persons, as among the gaudy butterflies of fashion-would such but combine with their present plainness, the least possible change and expense, the grand design would be secured, and until this be the case, the rejecting of ribbands and lace, ruffles and lappells, is a mere straining at a gnat and swallowing a camel. The evil complained of, which seems to arise from an excessive frivolity of mind, will scarcely be cured by that portion of light and grace which professors ordinarily content themselves with the attainment of; nor yet by that share of judgment which is generally exercised by the mass of mankind. It seems to require the exercise of good sense as well as piety: where there is a want of taste for an inward adorning of the heart with a meek and quiet temper, and of the mind with stores of useful information, mental deficiencies must be supplied by bodily adorning; hence it so frequently occurs in society, that persons, from whose exterior appearance we should expect much, on a nearer approach, the, inexpressiveness of every feature of the countenance, the frivolity of their conversation, their ignorance of every thing worth knowing, prove their minds to be as naked of adorning, as the oak in winter is of foliage, and bespeak their mental capacity an intellectual vacuum. Lady Maxwell did not degrade herself from her rank, nor detract from her personal appearance by plainness of dress; but she found that she could relieve many a suffering creature, and give education to many an orphan child, with what numbers expend in useless dress, whose income was as much below her own, as was their situation in society. Her talent for conversation was very remarkable, calculated st once to profit and delight. It might be said of her, as Dr. Johnson said of the Rev. John Wesley, "That she spoke well on every subject." For although in one sense she was out of the world, she was by no means unacquainted with it, nor yet of those leading events which in continued succession engage the public mind; while in the early part of her life, she appeared to have amassed a considerable fund of original observation on things, manners, and men. She was also well acquainted with the general circle of British literature in its various departments, and possessed a memory retentive of important facts, and ready in supplying at the precise moment, the idea or illustration which was then wanted. She had no partiality for controversy on any subject, and mostly avoided disputable points. When, however, she was called to give an opinion on such subjects, she would do it with ease and clearness-and by adverting to the data of her own reasoning-to the procedure of her understanding from one link to another of that chain of ratiocination which it had formed, she seldom failed to conduct the minds of others to the same conclusions with those of her own. Her command of language in conversation was not less extraordinary; the characteristics of which were, perspicuity, purity, and elegance. Her words in general were so well chosen, that a person of taste would have been ready to conclude, that had she ransacked all the Lexicons of the language, she could not have selected words more justly to express her sense, or to convey the precise ideas she intended to communicate, than those which she employed. With the exception of a very slight Scottish accent, her enunciation was as pure and elegant as her language:-her manner of speaking was ease and dignity in the closest combination; she was always ready, but never rapid. She was never observed to faulter, hesitate, or trip in the pronunciation of a word, nor ever to change a word, half-expressed, for another which might be deemed more suitable. She was never obtrusive in conversation, and never loquacious; seldom descended from the elevation of her rani and character; and on no occasion transgressed the laws of the best breeding; but by asking pertinent questions, and suggesting useful topics, she rather invited the conversation of others, tha monopolized it herself. She was perfectly at home on every subject possessed of rational interest; but in every company, and on every occasion, piety to God, and good-will towards men, were her favourite themes. Religion, indeed, seemed like her native element, in which she lived and moved, encompassing her like an atmosphere, and accompanying her in all her revolutions in the world and the church every subject was made to converge to, and terminate in, that great one, the enjoyment and practice of which is the chief end of man. On the doctrines of the gospel she spoke with clearness and precision; envincing on some occasions a wonderful degree of discrimination. On subjects of Christian experience, she would have been the fit and equal companion of a Fenelon, a De Renty, or a Fletcher. The high and deep things of the kingdom of grace were dwelt upon and treated by her with the easiest familiarity. When she expatiated on that grace which had so emptied her of self, so deadened every feeling and affection to the world, and so spiritualized all her mental powers-which had given her union with God so close, and fellowship so intimate; aged Christians appeared in her presence to be children, having only learned the first principles of the doctrine of Christ. Her noble conceptions of experimental truths were embodied in language so appropriate and clear; the pious feelings of the Christian were described so rationally and justly, that faith in her seemed to be sense, all spiritual and invisible realities appearing in sight, and God seen by the eye of a mortal. When dwelling on practical religion, piety in her hands assumed a more pious appearance; the reasonableness of godliness became more reasonable, while its native beauty seemed to acquire new and fresher charms. Of very few could it be said with a less degree of poetic licence, than of her, that "Truths divine came mended from her tongue." The conversation of such a person must always have been engaging, instructive, and profitable to pious persons, although it could seldom be enjoyed even by those without feeling such a mental and religious inferiority as made them dwindle in their own sight into perfect insignificancy. And if any religious person has experienced feelings different from those of pleasurable in Lady Maxwell's company, let them attribute it to the abovementioned cause. To some persons, perhaps, a part of the above may appear of minor importance. But if the design of Biography be not to amuse merely by a relation of striking incident, nor yet solely to perpetuate the memory of the dead, but to instruct the living, by an exhibition of models of propriety and excellency-excellency, which is uniform, being carried into the very minutia of life, as well as extending to concerns of greater importance; it is to be hoped, that to younger readers at least, the notice of these things may not be without its use. Lady Maxwell's piety was sound, deep, and consistent. Her conversion to God was genuine and clear, although the time and the circumstances of that important change cannot be detailed. Humility, which is the first grace implanted in the Christian's mind, and the first feature formed in the Christian's character, and which lies at the root of every other grace, had a conspicuous situation in her temper and conduct. This grace, however, had to display its beauty under some unfavourable circumstances. For as there was nothing in her person, or her early habits, congenial to such a temper, so there was something of such commanding dignity in her whole mien, that it is said, that when very young and at school, she maintained such an overbearing |